Time to dump the dump

A $200,000 solution to stop waste being washed into the sea from an old asbestos-contaminated Waikato landfill has been found. The landfill will be removed.

Mangroves near Kaiaua at the Firth of Thames are littered with rubbish as coastal erosion exposes years of waste at a tip just to the south of the seaside village. Hauraki District Council inherited the headache from the Franklin District when boundaries changed in 2010 and engineering services group manager Adrian de Laborde said it’s time for the dump to go.

‘‘Although it is expensive, we decided removing it entirely would actually protect it for future generations and we won’t leave anybody else a problem later down the line,’’ de Laborde said.

The old dump, which sits between the coast and the road between Kaiaua and Miranda, was buried about 20 years ago. Since then, erosion has changed the coastline dramatically with the edge of the dump now exposed.

‘‘That coastline has changed quite significantly since they initially started using it as a tip site and it’s been eating into the refuse and washing it out every time the tide comes in.’’

De Laborde estimated work to cost between $200,000 and $220,000. Contractors are moving in to clear away grass, topsoil and clay from the 200m long and up to 15m wide site. The exact volume of the refuse is unknown, but it will be dug out with machines and trucked to a landfill in Auckland, licensed to take asbestos. The eight-day task of cleaning and restoration won’t be straightforward. Barriers will be put in place to stop seawater from entering the work area.

‘‘We’re going to remove one end and we don’t want the whole front open because it is subject to the high tide washing into the site. We will be breaking it into two portions.’’

Once the site is clear of the waste, it will be restored and safe for public use. Council staff conducted tests recently and found no contamination around the landfill.

‘‘We’ve got a lot of public support and a huge amount of support from the local iwi, Ngati Paoa. They are very strongly in support of us removing that.’’

The work doesn’t end there. There’s the task of cleaning up waste already clinging to mangroves and littering the coast.